Kjetil Hamnes graduated with an MA in Public Relations in 2010. He reflects on his time in Leeds and his progress as a professional.
Having completed my undergraduate degree in Leeds the previous year, as well as being a self-proclaimed anglophile, choosing to do my master’s degree in Leeds was never a tough decision.
Admittedly, Leeds is not famous for its architecture or beauty. However, the friendly and welcoming people, combined with an excellent student scene more than weighs up for the lack of a Notre Dame.
I wouldn’t mind a glass of red wine at the top of the Eiffel Tower, but I would still choose a burger-and-pint deal at Yates any day.
Choosing to study PR, however, took some more consideration. With a BA in Marketing and Business, I saw my mates choosing to read the books of Kotler and Caslione for one more year, but I wanted something else. So I chose to study a field I knew very little about – Public Relations.
And what books did I read for 12 months? Well, the ones written by PR lecturers and professors at Leeds Metropolitan University.
And that’s why studying Public Relations at Leeds Met is so great. If you want to be the best, learn from the best. And you could hardly to better, as you are being taught by some of the most skilled and honoured people within the academic field of PR. The various modules are excellent, and provide a good mixture of theory and practical skills.
Among all the modules I studied during the two semesters, I wish to highlight the PR Writing module in particular – probably my favourite module when looking back at my four years as a student.
The recent months, after graduating from Leeds Met, have been really hectic. I’ve established myself as an independent PR consultant/copywriter back in Oslo, and things have developed rapidly. This should be good news for all of you about to graduate, or considering a career in Public Relations.
The majority of my clients are small- and medium-sized companies – and I’ve had assignments ranging from developing communication strategies and campaigns, to write content and co-ordinate the production of brochures. I’ve also had the chance to write a fair amount of press releases and other copywriting jobs on behalf of my clients.
Theories and skills learned during my time at Leeds Met have been of great help for me during all of these assignments.
I’m still new to the industry, so what I’ll be doing in six months, or even next week, is hard to say for sure – but that just makes everything even more exciting. What I can say, however, is that none of this would have been possible without my MA PR degree from Leeds Met – and for that I’m grateful.
In the ever changing industry of PR, everyone is given an opportunity to create a unique path for themselves, and you’ll never know what your next task will be. Hence the title (or as you might say, the well-worn phrase) – always expect the unexpected.
